To those who still look and listen, the majestic beauty of the African continent’s diverse landscapes thrums with life, animated by the spirits who inhabit them. Each forest grove or tree, river, mountain, oasis, cave or shoreline is a portal to connection. It is to these liminal places that people go to forge and maintain relationships with the larger-than-life forces that define their lives.

To say the demands of modernity have taken a toll on this landscape would be putting it mildly. Whether it is oil drilling, mineral mining, timber logging, dam building, large-scale fishing, big game hunting or plantation farming, too often (and sadly), many of these projects, while lucrative for the people whose wheeling and dealing brought them to life, do little for the communities on whose land or waters they operate on, extract from, and, ultimately, destroy.

Crushed under the weight of poverty and lured by promises of heretofore lacking jobs, amenities, and opportunities, many communities have, historically, been powerless or disincentivized to resist or fight back when things go bad.

But that is not always the case.

In this week’s episode of the Mythological Africans Podcast, we hear the story of how one community in Kenya fought back and, ultimately, won the right to preserve their land and heritage.

Shout out to Katherine May through whose lovely newsletter I found out about this story.

References

* Ngumbau, Veronicah Mutele, Paul Mutuku Musili, and Guang-Wan Hu. “Premna mwadimei (Lamiaceae), a new species from Cha Simba, a remnant of coastal forests of Kenya, East Africa.” Phytotaxa 510.2 (2021): 155-162.

* Tsuma, Lewa Amos. Achonyi Burial Rituals: A Critical Examination Of Their Effects In Light Of Practices On Christian Widows Of Chasimba Ward, Kilifi County, Kenya Diss. Pwani University, 2023.

* Kilifi Caves (Panga Ya Saidi, Mawe Meru and Chasimba Caves)

* Why Kilifi residents want written deal with cement investor

* How Kenyan villagers saved their sacred caves from a mining company

* Chasimba Cave - Caves in Kilifi County

* Battle to stop Africa’s waters being ravaged by China’s dark fishing fleets

* “It’s Like Killing Culture” Human Rights Impacts of Relocating Tanzania’s Maasai

* Congo’s coltan miners dig for world’s tech — and struggle regardless of who is in charge

Can’t Get Enough?

* For a fictional take on a similar situation, read “How Beautiful We Were” by Cameroonian author Imbolo Mbue.

Meanwhile…

The Watkins Book of African Folklore (…or The Mythological Africans Book) is out!

The Watkins Book of African Folklore contains 50 stories, curated from North, South, East, West and Central Africa. The stories are grouped into three sections:

* Creation myths and foundation legends

* Stories about human relationships and the cultural institutions they created

* Animal tales (with a twist…the folktales are about some of the most unlikely animals!)

I thoroughly enjoyed digging into the historical and cultural context out of which the stories, their themes, and protagonists emerge. There is something for everybody!

Mythological Africans is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Get full access to Mythological Africans at mythologicalafricans.substack.com/subscribe